The draft bill for the real and effective equality of transgender people and for the guarantee of LGTBI rights, known as the ‘Trans Law’, was approved at the end of June. This new law has been fraught with controversy between the Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, and the First Vice-President, Carmen Calvo. Both represented the different opinions of the two government partners: Unidas Podemos and PSOE in the government. Ángeles Álvarez, feminist activist and former PSOE deputy, talks about the law with Federico Quevedo in El Balance.
Tension in the coalition government
The former MP confirms that Pedro Sánchez has not listened to the feminists in his own party about this law. According to Álvarez, “we don’t know why he hasn’t received us“. She also added that “we don’t understand why the PSOE demanded legal guarantees to then propose a text in which they are all charged”.
Finally, after the disparate opinions of the government, the option that prevailed was that of the Equality text, which advocates gender self-determination. Feminist groups warn of the consequences of this law and affirm that sex is an immutable biological reality.
These groups also criticize the fact that the new law confuses sex and gender: “gender is a cultural construction of sexist roles, not an innate identity to be defended”, they explain.
Pedro Sánchez’s cession
According to Ángeles Álvarez, “women’s associations and movements are surprised and upset”. The former MP hopes that they will be listened to “at least those of us who are on the inside of the socialist party”. Álvarez adds that they have sent a letter from “militants of the socialist party to Pedro Sánchez: from Matilde Fernández to the directors of the different stages of the Women’s Institute”.
The letter was accompanied by the signatures of more than 1,000 women party activists, but it has not yet received a reply. Álvarez is perplexed, and points out that “I don’t believe that the government would have been broken because it had guaranteed the veracity of the fact that sex exists”.
Listen to the full interview in the audio below:
Through ‘El Balance’, a program hosted by Federico Quevedo on Capital Radio, Influence Spain is able to expand its network of contacts within the national, regional and municipal spectrum.
